Polad Bulbuloglu withdrew his candidacy for UNESCO director-general

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BY INFORMATION SECTION

The Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu stated that he is stopping the struggle for the post of UNESCO Director-General. This is stated in the official statement distributed on behalf of Polad Bulbuloglu.

'I am proud to be nominated by my country as a candidate for the post of Director-General of UNESCO, and I am grateful to the government and personally to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev for the high trust and support rendered to me. In the time that remained until the election, we conducted an intensive pre-election campaign, unprecedented in terms of tightness. I am grateful to all those who helped me in this complex work,' the statement reads.

The statement says that it was support, expressed during the election campaign by many members of the UNESCO Executive Committee, that gave grounds for counting on success.

'However, in the course of the highly competitive struggle for the 30 votes necessary for the victory, in which, in addition to Azerbaijan, there were such big states as China, France, Egypt, 8 states in total, including 2 permanent members of the UN Security Council, we, unfortunately, did not succeed in developing the success of the election campaign and gain the necessary number of votes. Therefore, I regretfully decided to withdraw from the election race, but I do it with a sense of duty, as I did everything possible and necessary, depending on me,' the message says.

'The very fact of nomination to the post of the leader of this authoritative international organisation is already a great achievement in the life of any person. One can be proud of the fact that in post-Soviet history I am the first creative person to be nominated and selected as a candidate for this high position. I think that this event is a great school for young Azerbaijani diplomacy,' the statement says.